William Wordsworth's View of How "The world is too much with us".
Romanticism officially began in 1798 in response to The Age of Reason and the .
Industrial Revolution. To be considered a Romantic work, the work must contain aspects .
which are termed "Romantic." A few typical "Romantic" aspects are: love of the past; .
sympathy to the child's mind; faith in the inner goodness of man; aspects of nature .
having religious, mystic, and or symbolic significance; and reconciliation of contrasting .
ideas to make a point. Wordsworth uses some of these ideas in a poem called "The world .
is too much with us." The Industrial Revolution changed the world and was the .
beginning of an industrialized economy in which machines were developed to facilitate .
the mass production of textiles, steel, coal, and oil. Even though, the birth .
of the Industrial Revolution changed the world, many Romantics including William .
Wordsworth objected to this new change. His objections are expressed in "The .
world is too much with us." In this poem, Wordsworth describes his inner passions .
towards nature and his criticism towards the materialistic world. Wordsworth describes .
his perception of the world, his perception of how the world ought to be, and his .
perception of the future.
In his poem, Wordsworth vocalizes his perception of the world during his time. .
Wordsworth sees that the people of the world have an obsession with "Getting and .
spending[ ]" (2.). He expresses that people carelessly exploit the earth without any .
second thoughts and he believes the world is becoming greedy and lazy. Wordsworth .
believes that because of humankind's obsession with "getting and spending", "we lay .
waste our powers" as a result of our incompetence to uphold the bond between humans .
and nature (2). Furthermore, Wordsworth believes that humankind's hunger for "getting .
and spending," is spiritually bankrupting and causing many to lose their connection with .
